Jesus Colome

Colome's 2008 was a mirror image of his 2007, as a solid second half followed a miserable first three months. The Nationals seem to believe strongly in first impressions because they cut him loose despite his post-All-Star break rebound, so he'll try to catch on somewhere else as an extremely fungible middle reliever.

Colome started out the season on fire, but an infection in his, uhh, gluteus maximus cooled him down, although his weak K:BB ratio indicated a correction was coming with or without the injury. He'll probably return to the Nationals in middle relief, but don't expect too much.

Throwing hard has never been a problem for Colome, but as an April castoff of the Devil Rays, it will be an uphill battle for Colome to suit up for most big-league clubs. He made all of his appearances for Triple-A Columbus in 2006, tossing 33.1 innings in 25 relief outings while trying to regain some lost arm strength. He'll get a shot to catch on with the Nationals, but there's a decent chance he could be pitching elsewhere if he doesn't do enough to impress this spring.

Colome has a thunderbolt for an arm, but we could do without his maddening habit of checking the speed gun readout on the scoreboard after every pitch. In his last four seasons with Tampa Bay, he's had one good season, and three crappy ones; both are possibilities for 2006, but guess which way you should bet.

It was a put-up-or-shut-up year for Colome and he posted great numbers. If anything, he was a very unlucky pitcher in 2004, since his component ERA was just 2.54, nearly a full run less than his traditional ERA. He was clocked at over 100 MPH on eight separate occasions last year—only Kyle Farnswoth hit triple digits more often. He'll likely pitch the eighth inning for Tampa Bay while Danys Baez pitches the ninth, but flip-flopping those two wouldn't hurt the Rays at all.

Jesus Saves. But, not this Jesus. Colome had a golden opportunity to claim the Devil Rays' closer job last year after an awful 2002, giving up 23 baserunners in his first 11.2 innings. That gave Lance Carter a chance to close, and he ran with it, leaving Colome bouncing between long relief and set-up for the rest of the year. Every once in a while, Colome hits 100 on the gun and folks will talk about his potential. However, his inconsistency, as well as his tantrums on the field or in the clubhouse, are beginning to wear on people. He'll start 2004 deep in the Tampa Bay bullpen at best, and we won't be surprised if Chuck LaMar decides he's seen enough.

With all of the chaos in the Devil Rays' bullpen last year, Colome, who entered the year as a red-hot prospect, had a chance to make a name for himself as a major-league closer. Instead, he had some absolutely awful outings, posting an 8.27 (!) ERA and a 2.2 WHIP ratio in 41 big-league innings. The Devil Rays' closer job is essentially vacant going into 2003, and late in spring training, Colome appeared to have won the job with an outstanding spring. However, presume around 20 saves for Colome, and not much more, if he does win the closer job; the Rays will not give anyone many save chances, and Lou Piniella will probably share the workload a little.